Netflix profits rocket 88 percent, now rivals Comcast in subscribers

By Trevor Mogg April 25, 2011

Figures for first quarter earnings suggest streaming video service Netflix is continuing to go from strength to strength. According to the company, profits in the quarter ending March 31 jumped a whopping 88 percent, coming in at $60.2m – that’s $1.11 a share (up from $32.3m 12 months earlier; 59 cents a share).

Netflix also reported revenue at a healthy $719m, up an impressive 46 percent. The California-based company said it added 3.3m US subscribers in the first quarter, as well as 290,000 new Canadian subscribers (making a total of 800,000 there). This makes a worldwide total of 23.6m subscribers.

At 22.8m US subscribers, Netflix is now equal to Comcast, the country’s biggest cable company. Netflix had been expected to pass Comcast with this latest set of figures.

In a letter to shareholders on Monday, CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells put the rapid growth down to “increased spending on an ever-broader selection of TV shows and movies, our constantly improving personalization technology, and the Netflix brand.”

The company is looking to expand beyond North America by early 2012, possibly into the UK or Latin America. Also, in a big show of confidence, it recently made a move into original programming by licensing the exclusive rights to premiere Kevin Spacey’s House of Cards series in late 2012. This comes off the back of the original BBC House of Cards being a big hit on Netflix. If Spacey’s version also proves popular, expect to see more original content coming out of Netflix, something which would likely have traditional broadcasters quaking in their televisual boots.

There was, however, a slightly sour note to the end of the day’s proceedings for Netflix. Shares dropped 5 percent by the end of trading, with company profits for the current quarter estimated at less than what Wall Street has been hoping for. Netflix predicted they would have between 24m and 24.8m US subscribers by the end of the second quarter, with a net income in the region of $50m to $62m, and sales of between $762m and $778m.

Netflix, which launched more than 10 years ago as a DVD rental service, is now largely an Internet subscription service that for $7.99 allows subscribers to watch unlimited movies and TV shows streamed over the net.

Topics

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Computing

Scores of people are downgrading back to Windows 10

The screen of the Galaxy Book4 Ultra.

Microsoft continues to struggle with the adoption of Windows 11 among its users. Recent data from Statcounter reveals a notable decline in the operating system’s market share, specifically compared with Windows 10.

After reaching an all-time high of 28.16% in February 2024, Windows 11 has experienced a drop, falling below the 26% mark.

Computing

The ASUS ROG Ally handheld gaming PC has a nice discount today

Starfield running on the Asus ROG Ally.

If you love the power of gaming PCs and the portability of the Nintendo Switch, you should think about getting a handheld gaming PC like the Asus ROG Ally. If you're interested, it's currently on sale from Walmart with an $87 discount that pulls its price down to $400 from $487. It's a pretty popular device so we expect this offer to attract a lot of attention, which means it's probably not going to last long. If you want to get this handheld gaming PC for this cheap, you should proceed with the transaction immediately.

Why you should buy the Asus ROG Ally handheld gaming PC
It's the version of the Asus ROG Ally with the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme that's listed in our roundup of the best handheld gaming PCs, but the Asus ROG Ally Z1 is still a worthwhile purchase because it gives you a gaming PC that you can bring with you wherever you go. Unlike a gaming laptop that's still pretty bulky with its large screen and keyboard, the Asus ROG Ally takes on the form of a portable gaming console like the Nintendo Switch, but with Windows 11 pre-installed as a familiar operating system to navigate and launch the best PC games.

Computing

The HP Victus gaming PC with RTX 3060 has a $550 discount

The HP Victus 15L gaming PC in white.

Gamers don't need to spend more than $1,000 if they want to buy a new gaming PC because there are affordable options like the HP Victus 15L gaming desktop. From its original price of $1,400, you can get it for just $850 as HP has applied a $550 discount on this machine. However, you shouldn't delay your purchase because there's no assurance that the gaming PC will still be 39% off tomorrow. If you want to make sure that you get it for less than $1,000, you're going to have to complete the transaction for it within the day.

Why you should buy the HP Victus 15L gaming desktop
You shouldn't expect the HP Victus 15L gaming desktop to match the performance of the top-of-the-line models of the best gaming PCs, but it's surprisingly powerful for its cost. Inside it are the 13th-generation Intel Core i7 processor and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card, with 16GB of RAM that our guide on how much RAM do you need says is the best place to start for gaming. It's enough to play today's best PC games without any issues, and it may even be capable of running the upcoming PC games of the next few years if you're willing to dial down the settings for the more demanding titles.